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The Resort at Paws Up

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Montana is famous for big skies with big views, but The Resort at Paws Up adds big adventure to the mix. The luxury resort and working cattle ranch sprawls over 37,000 acres in the Blackfoot Valley, 35 miles northeast of Missoula. With 10 miles of frontage on the Blackfoot River — the inspiration for the book and movie A River Runs Through It— Paws Up more than qualifies as Montana’s luxury adventure headquarters.

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Our Inspector's Highlights

You soon discover that camping is nothing short of extravagant at Paws Up, which offers five sites overlooking the Blackfoot River.

Choices are part of the luxury at the camp resort. You have the option of dividing your vacation stay between three nights of glamping by the banks of the Blackfoot River with four nights in a vacation home.

Adventure is a year-long event at this Montana ranch. Winter visitors can zoom off in a snowmobile, snowshoe through the forest or ride through the meadow in a horse-drawn sleigh.

After a day of adventure, relax by the fire as the camp chef cooks up roasted rainbow trout or chili-dusted Black Angus hanger steak. Later, munch on s’mores prepared by the camp butler.

Explore the expansive grounds in the compact car provided by the resort.

Things to Know

Ride an ATV, round up cattle, water ski at Seely Lake — with 37,000 acres of wilderness, 10 miles of the
Blackfoot River and 100 miles of trails to explore, you can’t possibly run out
of things to do. The adventure-based resort offers a menu of activities so comprehensive that you'll want to take advantage of a pre-trip call with a personal concierge to plan all the fun.

In the winter, you can add skiing into the mix with a stay at Paws Up’s slope-side chalet at nearby Whitefish Mountain Resort.

You won’t have to cook, as meals are included at Trough for breakfast and lunch, or Pomp for dinner.

Families with children will appreciate the Kids Corps of Discovery Adventure program with age-appropriate activities designed to replace screen time with the time of their lives. Little Discoverers (ages 4-5) enjoy pony rides and Western treasure hunts, Adventure Club participants (ages 6-12) race go-karts and jump into the river from rope swings, among many other activities.

Does “Corps of Discovery” sound familiar? It’s the name that explorers
Lewis and Clark gave their expedition that crossed the West to the
Pacific. And, yes, the duo explored this very spot.

The Rooms

Each camp features six kitted-out tents and a dining pavilion.

Paws Up’s signature Last Best Bed is so comforting, you will forget that you’re camping.

An en-suite bath, overhead fans and a spacious deck are revealed as soon as you open the tent’s canvas flap.

If you’d rather stay in a vacation home, Paws Up has 28 on offer, including the Morris Ranch House, once owned by famous aviator Charles Lindberg.

There’s more to the ranch resort than adventure as your taste buds soon discover. Executive chef Sunny Jin presides over dishes of locally sourced Montana food products that he refers to as “refined rustic cuisine.”

At Pomp, an evening dining venue, enjoy bison tenderloin raised in St. Ignatius or Hutterite chicken from Cut Bank, two nearby communities.

And don’t miss a breakfast of huckleberry pancakes served at the more casual Trough.

The hotel hosts several culinary events throughout the year.
Montana Master Grillers is Paws Up’s annual
celebration of all things barbecue over Memorial Day weekend, and it regularly
brings in legendary pit masters and James Beard Award winners to wow guests in
the kitchen and outdoors over open flames.

At Montana Master Chefs, a weekend of adventure and cooking with the country’s top chefs, you’ll experience the ultimate combination of luxury, fun and food, along with plenty of fine wine.